Mobile arts therapy program

Arts & Culture

Artvan is a mobile arts therapy program with a mission to provide a creative, collaborative environment to encourage youth who have little or no arts access to fully express their imaginations, relationships and experiences within themselves, among their peers and across our communities. Using visual arts for creative, safe self-expression and to learn artistic techniques, over 3,000 youth, their families and their communities have benefited from artvans expertise in visual arts and prevention. Artvans core neighborhood communities began with bath in 2004. In 2006-07, artvan expanded to perryman village, brunswick; tree streets neighborhood, lewiston; 2 subsidized housing developments, auburn; and bacon street neighborhood, biddeford. After working 8 years under fiscal-sponsor relationships, artvan incorporated as an independent organization in 2011 and began to redefine its mission, establish a board, and develop infrastructure components, receiving 501(c)3 status in december 2012. Through this transition, artvan sustained programming to change lives one youth at a time, one work of art at a time. In these past two years, we have grown in our knowledge of non-profit management and developed staff whose expertise fit the unique needs of our work and mission. This history provides artvan with a solid base of non-profit management, stable community relationships, and secure standards towards success. Art therapy is at the core of our programmatic work and is provided by two professional on-staff art therapists who build trust and relational ties. They facilitate the process of self-discovery, so youth can make sense of their experiences, feelings and perceptions. Telling their story through art helps youth become more aware of themselves, their motivations and their behaviors. At no cost to youth, artvans hands-on projects plant seeds for imaginative growth, allowing children and teens time, materials, and support to create and explore ideas, resulting in increased self-esteem, healthier outlooks, more awareness of the wider world, and more successful integration into larger communities. Artistic relationships offer grounds for neighborhood youth, families, and community members to move forward with open minds and new skills to solve conflicts and to make an impact. Artvans core neighborhood program is comprised of six sites: maritime apartments (bath), hyde park (bath), artvan artists xtraordinaire (avax, bath), perryman village (brunswick), auburn housing developments (auburn), and lewiston public library (lewiston). Additionally, artvan works with local nonprofits and agencies providing one-time or ongoing services through our fee for service program. Artvan does not plan to expand its geographic scope; instead, it hopes to deepen relationships within the communities where we currently work.